skip to main content
10.1145/2157136.2157220acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagessigcseConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Collaboration across the curriculum: a disciplined approach todeveloping team skills

Published:29 February 2012Publication History

ABSTRACT

Improving communication and collaborative skills of computer science students has been a priority in the community for some time. We present our philosophy, collaboration across the curriculum, which moves beyond existing individual courses or course units to teach collaboration skills in a pervasive manner. In our approach, concepts are introduced and skills are developed throughout the computer science curriculum---from CS1 to a capstone experience. Students are provided with opportunities to exercise skills in reflective environments that eventually mirror real-world experiences, and technical course content is not compromised.

We argue for this system and provide details about how collaboration across the curriculum is accomplished at a small liberal arts college.

References

  1. A. Begel and B. Simon. Struggles of new college graduates in their first software development job. In Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, SIGCSE '08, pages 226--230, New York, NY, USA, 2008. ACM. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  2. M. Biggers, T. Yilmaz, and M. Sweat. Using collaborative, modified peer led team learning to improve student success and retention in intro cs. SIGCSE Bull., 41:9--13, March 2009. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  3. J. Brown and G. Dobbie. Supporting and evaluating team dynamics in group projects. SIGCSE Bull., 31:281--285, March 1999. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  4. M. Carter, M. Vouk, G. Gannod, J. Burge, P. Anderson, and M. Hoffman. Communication genres: Integrating communication into the software engineering curriculum. In Proceedings of the 24th IEEE-CS Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training, pages 22--24, 2011. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  5. D. P. Dannels and A. L. H. Gaffney. Communication across the curriculum and in the disciplines: A call for scholarly cross-curricular advocacy. Communication Education, 58(1):124--153, 2009.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  6. K. Deibel. Team formation methods for increasing interaction during in-class group work. SIGCSE Bull., 37:291--295, June 2005. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  7. T. Eberlein, J. Kampmeier, V. Minderhout, R. S. Moog, T. Platt, P. Varma-Nelson, and H. B. White. Pedagogies of engagement in science. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 36(4):262--273, 2008.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  8. P. Gruba and R. Al-Mahmood. Strategies for communication skills development. In Proceedings of the sixth conference on Australasian computing education - Volume 30, ACE '04, pages 101--107, Darlinghurst, Australia, Australia, 2004. Australian Computer Society, Inc. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  9. T. B. Hilburn. Teams need a process! SIGCSE Bull., 32:53--56, July 2000. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  10. W. S. Humphrey. Introduction ot the Team Software Process. Addison-Wesley, 2000. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  11. J. R. Katzenbach and D. K. Smith. The discipline of teams. Harvard Business Review, pages 111--120, March-April 1993.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  12. D. A. Kolb. Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall, Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  13. S. Kurkovsky. Four roles of instructor in software engineering projects. SIGCSE Bull., 40:354--354, June 2008. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  14. C. Kussmaul. Process-oriented guided inquiry learning (pogil) for entrepreneurship. In Proceedings of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance 15th Annual Conference, 2011.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  15. D. L. Largent. Getting and staying agile. XRDS, 17:38--41, September 2010. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  16. B. Lil, R. Baecker, C. Collins, and A. Donohue. A "communication skills for computer scientist" course. SIGCSE Bull., 41:65--69, July 2009. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  17. R. Lingard and E. Berry. Teaching teamwork skills in software engineering based on an understanding of factors affecting group performance. Frontiers in Education, Annual, 2:S3G1--6, 2002.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  18. D. McKinney and L. F. Denton. Developing collaborative skills early in the cs curriculum in a laboratory environment. SIGCSE Bull., 38:138--142, March 2006. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  19. S. Mickan and S. Rodger. Characteristics of effective teams: a literature review. Austrailian Health Review, 23(3):201--208, 2000.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  20. P. C. Miller. Communication across the curriculum: An annotated list of research. National Association of National Association of Communication Centers (NACC) webpage, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2011 from http://www.usm.edu/speakingcenter/NACC/resources.html.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  21. C. Murphy, R. Powell, K. Parton, and A. Cannon. Lessons learned from a PLTL-CS program. In Proceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education, SIGCSE '11, pages 207--212, New York, NY, USA, 2011. ACM. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  22. I. Newman, M. Daniels, and X. Faulkner. Open ended group projects a 'tool' for more effective teaching. In Proceedings of the fifth Australasian conference on Computing education - Volume 20, ACE '03, pages 95--103, Darlinghurst, Australia, Australia, 2003. Australian Computer Society, Inc. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  23. B. Oakley, R. M. Felder, R. Brent, and I. Elhajj. Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of Student Centered Learning, 2(1), 2004.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  24. D. J. Reifer. Educating software engineers: an industry viewpoint. SIGSOFT Softw. Eng. Notes, 30:8--9, May 2005. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  25. S. Ruff and M. Carter. Communication learning outcomes from software engineering professionals: a basis for teaching communication in the engineering curriculum. In Proceedings of the 39th IEEE international conference on Frontiers in education conference, FIE'09, pages 1271--1276, Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2009. IEEE Press. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  26. P. R. Scholtes, B. L. Joiner, and barbara J. Steibel. The TEAM Handbook. Ariel Inc., 2003.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  27. J. Shaul Norback, D. C. Llewellyn, J. Donnell, and T. Govindaraj. Using a web-based system to integrate workplace communication skills into engineering curriculum. In Proceedings of the Frontiers in Education Conference, 2001. 31st Annual - Volume 02, Washington, DC, USA, 2001. IEEE Computer Society. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  28. J. Sheridan-Ross. Practical tips for engaging students in team formation for multi-discipline computing projects. SIGCSE Bull., 39:360--360, June 2007. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  29. D. Smarkusky, R. Dempsey, J. Ludka, and F. de Quillettes. Enhancing team knowledge: instruction vs. experience. SIGCSE Bull., 37:460--464, February 2005. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  30. D. L. Smarkusky and H. H. Smith. Team projects throughout the curriculum: course management, teaching initiatives and outreach. J. Comput. Small Coll., 19:119--129, May 2004. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  31. H. H. Smith, III and D. L. Smarkusky. Competency matrices for peer assessment of individuals in team projects. In Proceedings of the 6th conference on Information technology education, SIGITE '05, pages 155--162, New York, NY, USA, 2005. ACM. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  32. W. J. Smith, F. Bélanger, T. L. Lewis, and K. Honaker. Training to persist in computing careers. SIGCSE Bull., 39:119--120, December 2007. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  33. J. A. Stone and E. M. Madigan. Integrating reflective writing in cs/is. SIGCSE Bull., 39:42--45, June 2007. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  34. V. M. a. Teles and C. E. Tolla de Oliveira. Reviewing the curriculum of software engineering undergraduate courses to incorporate communication and interpersonal skills teaching. In Proceedings of the 16th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training, pages 158--, Washington, DC, USA, 2003. IEEE Computer Society. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  35. B. W. Tuckman and M. A. Jensen. Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Studies, pages 419--427, 1977.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref

Index Terms

  1. Collaboration across the curriculum: a disciplined approach todeveloping team skills

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Login options

    Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

    Sign in
    • Published in

      cover image ACM Conferences
      SIGCSE '12: Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science Education
      February 2012
      734 pages
      ISBN:9781450310987
      DOI:10.1145/2157136

      Copyright © 2012 ACM

      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

      Publisher

      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      • Published: 29 February 2012

      Permissions

      Request permissions about this article.

      Request Permissions

      Check for updates

      Qualifiers

      • research-article

      Acceptance Rates

      SIGCSE '12 Paper Acceptance Rate100of289submissions,35%Overall Acceptance Rate1,595of4,542submissions,35%

      Upcoming Conference

      SIGCSE Virtual 2024
      SIGCSE Virtual 2024: ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference
      November 30 - December 1, 2024
      Virtual Event , USA

    PDF Format

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader